BILASPUR– Congress MLA from district Bilaspur, Bambar Thakur, who had been making headlines for his alleged ‘Gunda Raj’ in Bilaspur district, now faced serious allegations of corruption from the General Secretary of Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee, Ram Lal Thakur, who has also demanded CBI inquiry. While talking to media persons at the Circuit house here on Monday, Ram Lal Thakur, assuring that he has sufficient evidences, alleged the Bilaspur MLA of causing a loss of about Rs. 200 crore to the State during last four years. He has direct association with mining mafia and forest mafia, he further added.

Thakur said that Bambar Thakur is causing crucial damage to the image of the Congress party in Himachal due to his direct involvement in such corrupt practices to amass illegal monetary assets. Ram Lal said that he had approached the HPCC President and the Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh to take action against the legislator, however, both remained silent while Bambar Singh still continue with his illegal activities. The district police, he said, is also providing protection to the legislator despite protest from people against his ‘gundagardi’.

Thakur said that the relations of the Bambar with drug mafia in Punjab aren’t any secret either. The Bilaspur legislator has devoured lakhs of rupees as commission from four lane officials, he alleged. Also, despite prohibition on mining in certain locations in the district, huge amount of gravel and sand is being supplied illegally for construction of four-lane. Over 100 trucks are deployed in transportation of mining material while there is no record of money generated on the name of M-Form. Moreover, these trucks mostly belong to BJP leaders who are friends with Bambar Thakur.

Further, he alleged that Bambar Singh has been carrying out axing of Khair (Acacia chundra) trees in Kothipur, Panjgayin, Naina Devi etc. in association with forest mafia.

Ram Lal Thakur said that he will not remain silent about the internal enemies of the party. He referred to Bambar’s repeated bullying behavior like misbehavior with the female RTO officer, threats to doctors, and manhandling a DFO who tried to stop the MLA from carrying out illegal activity on government land.

Previous Case

The officers have either got themselves transferred from Bilaspur or even quit their job owing to typical goon-like behavior of Bambar Thakur.

Bambar Thakur Threatening a Doctor

Very recently, the Vice-President of National Kisan Morcha and former MLA, Suresh Chandel, had alleged that Bambar Thakur be-fooled people by inaugurating a link road connecting main Kandror – Harlog (कंदरौर-हरलोग) road to jarloo-Tyamar-Bhyatar(जरलू-तयामर-भ्यातर) on May 31, 2017, that was built about 13 years ago. MLA even claimed allotment of Rs. 200 funds for the maintenance of the road which was not true, Chandel had told media in a statement.

It’s noticeable that Bambar Thakur had been giving controversial statements in media against Ram Lal Thakur and had even labeled some allegations against him. After remaining silent for a while, now Ram Lal has also opened attack against the Congress legislator. The differences between the Chief Minister and the HPCC President are already haunting the party. With these allegations, the internal differences between Congressmen in poll bound Himachal are clearly visible.

Madan has studied English Literature and Journalism from HP University and lives in Shimla. He is an amateur photographer and has been writing on topics ranging from environmental, socio-economic, development programs, education, eco-tourism, eco-friendly lifestyle and to green technologies for over 7 years now. He has an inclination for all things green, wonderful and loves to live in solitude. When not writing, he can be seen wandering, trying to capture world around him in his DSLR lens.

Total 332 Bird Species Located in Himachal Pradesh

Shimla-As per the Great Backyard Bird Count (7th Indian edition), the number of bird species in Himachal Pradesh was 332 in 2018, a spokesman of State Forest Department informed on February 21, 2019.

PCCF (WL) Dr. Savita said
that among the Indian States, Himachal
Pradesh shared the topmost position with
Uttrakhand where the highest number of
species was recorded.

Birding locations included wildlife sanctuaries, national
parks, conservation reserves, villages and urban areas. He said that more than
150 bird species were recorded in Mandi, Shimla, Kangra and Sirmaur districts.

The Great Backyard Bird Count is a citizen science
initiative intended to encourage both amateur and professional bird-watchers to
contribute towards the understanding bird
and their biology in a better way.

The Department said that amateur birders from across the state contributed in the count in addition to 287 checklists that were uploaded into e-Bird by 55 participants.

Participation in the event involved a minimum of 15 minutes bird watching during which all the bird species seen were counted and listed. It involved bird watching sessions with school teachers and students, birding involving local villagers and panchayat representatives and training of frontline staff of the forest department in bird identification.

The Department said a detailed report is in preparation and
will be circulated by the first week of March

Foundation Stone of HP Central University in Kangra laid, Will Be Ready in 3 Years, Says Govt

Kangra-The foundation stone of the Central University of Himachal Pradesh at Dehra in Kangra district was laid today by the Union Human Resource Minister Prakash Javadekar and Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur.

Prakash Javadekar said that the forest clearance for
construction of this University was also accorded when he was the Union Forest
and Environment Minister. The State Government deposited Rs 6 crore under CAMP
Act for forest clearance.

As per the official information released, the Central
University will have two campuses at two different locations. The first Campus
would be at Jadrangal near Dharamshala, which would be spread in an area of 750
hectares. The second campus would be
established at Dehra in an area of 287 hectares.

The Government said about Rs.1300 crore would be spent on construction of both these campuses and the same would be completed in the next three year, the government said. These campuses would be spread in an area of about 1000 hectare, making it one of the biggest University of the region.

The Government said that an amount of Rs.7044 crore was being spent on the education sector during the current financial year and a provision of Rs.7600 crore had been made for the next financial year.